Golf Tee

Abstract

A golf tee comprising a generally conically shaped wall defining a central opening therein and formed of a synthetic plastic foam material. The upper edge of the wall is inclined radially inwardly toward the opening, providing a seating surface for a golf ball. The lower edge is provided with a plurality of downwardly extending, ground engaging projections having recesses therebetween for accommodating irregularities in the ground surface. The tee is formed by stamping out an arcuately shaped section from a flat strip of synthetic plastic foam material with the cut edges extending normal to the plane of the section. The opposite ends of the section are brought together and secured to form the generally conically shaped tee.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a golf ball support and, more particularly, to an improved golf tee construction and method of making the same.

Conventional wooden golf tees having stems adapted to be pressed into a ground surface leaving the heads thereof exposed to provide golf ball supporting surfaces are not completely satisfactory because of their lack of durability and their tendency to travel in the direction of the ball after being struck by a clubhead. The ball supporting heads are easily broken or chipped under clubhead impact thereby necessitating discard of the tees. Such tees are often propelled a distance in front of the golfer when struck by a clubhead and are easily lost. Furthermore, they are often impacted in the ground, either deliberately or accidentally, thereby cluttering the fairway and increasing the difficulty of properly maintaining the golf course. In tees of this type, the height of the ball supporting surface above the ground is a variable for each tee set-up, and the stems thereof have sharp points providing safety hazards when handling the same. Also, positioning the tee in the ground can be particularly difficult where only hard, dry ground is available.

A tee construction which successfully obviates the above noted disadvantages is disclosed in pending application Ser. No. 586,114, filed Oct. 12, 1966, in the form of an extremely lightweight, virtually indestructible golf tee adapted to lie in an upright position on the surface of the ground without need for pressing into the ground. The present invention provides an alternative construction offering the advantages of the construction disclosed in copending application Ser. No. 586,114 and also having additional desirable features.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved golf tee, which is simple and extremely lightweight in construction, rugged and durable in use, low in cost, easily placed in teeing position on the surface of the ground, and which can be inexpensively and expeditiously formed of a synthetic plastic foam material.

Generally speaking, the golf tee of the present invention comprises a conically shaped body formed of a synthetic plastic foam material having an upper edge or rim inclined radially inwardly for providing a seating surface for a golf ball. The lower edge is provided with a plurality of downwardly extending, ground engaging projections or fingers having recesses therebetween for accommodating irregularities in the ground surface. The fingers terminate in edges inclined relative to a horizontal plane so that initially only the inner ends of the edges engage the ground surface with a point contact.

The tee is formed by stamping an arcuately shaped blank or section out of a strip of plastic synthetic foam material with the cut edges extending perpendicularly to the plane of the section. The opposite ends of the section are adhesively bonded together to form the finished product.

The foregoing and other objects, advantages and characterizing features of the present invention will become clearly apparent from the ensuing detailed description of an illustrative embodiment thereof, taken together with the accompanying drawing wherein like reference numerals denote like parts throughout the various views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a golf tee constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the golf tee illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken about on line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the golf tee illustrated in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is an arcuate blank or section stamped out of a strip of plastic synthetic foam material shown prior to connecting the ends together to form the golf tee of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT

Referring now in detail to the drawing, there is shown in FIG. 1 one form of a golf tee constructed in accordance with the present invention comprising a generally conically shaped pad or body, generally designated 10, having a central opening 12 defined by an inclined wall 14 tapering upwardly and terminating in an upper edge or rim 16 inclined downwardly radially from the outer surface of wall 14 toward opening 12. Rim 16 is disposed at substantially a right angle relative to wall 14 and forms a golf ball supporting or seating surface which is dished inwardly for providing a relatively large contact area conforming to the engaging surface of the ball.

Body 10 preferably is formed of a synthetic plastic foam material, such as polyurethane, polyethylene, polyvinyl or polypropylene for example, although it may be formed of any suitable, lightweight spongy material. By forming the golf tee of a synthetic foam or spongy material, which is lightweight, inexpensive and resiliently yieldable, the tee of this invention can flex under the impact of a clubhead to provide a virtually indestructible tee. It also provides a cushioned impact which avoids damage to the face of a wood clubhead. Moreover, the material returns to its original shape after being temporarily deformed by a clubhead blow and maintains its integrity so as not to chip or crumble.

The present tee is adapted to lie directly on a ground surface with no anchorage thereto when in teeing position. To compensate for the tendency of such a lightweight tee to tilt upon engaging ground surface irregularities such as grass, small stones or the like, the underside of body 10 is formed to provide a plurality of downwardly extending, ground engaging projections or fingers 18 defining recesses 20 therebetween. In the illustrated form, fingers 18 are V-shaped and have a thickness generally equal to wall 14. Fingers 18 terminate in knife edges 22 having a length equal to the thickness of wall 14.

When body 10 is placed in teeing position, the inner portions only of edges 22 engage the ground surface, indicated at 24 in FIG. 1, thereby effecting a point contact rather than a line contact of edges 18. Ground surface irregularities, including grass, will project upwardly into recesses 20 between fingers 18 and are accommodated in a manner substantially obviating the tendency of such irregularities to tilt body 10.

When the golf ball is placed on supporting edge or rim 16, body 10 tends to compress somewhat causing edges 22 to be pressed against ground surface 24 progressively from the inner ends of edges 22 radially outwardly toward the outer ends thereof to provide additional support under the weight of the ball. The dished contour of rim 16 provides an adequate seating surface for the golf ball, preventing the ball from being displaced from the tee by a strong breeze or wind.

While the tee of this invention can be molded, preferably it is formed as follows. In forming the golf tee of the present invention, a strip of flat synthetic plastic foam material of the desired thickness is placed on a workbench or table and one or more arcuately shaped sections 30 (FIG. 3) having a curved edge 32 and a corrugated or toothed edge 34 are stamped out from the strip of material. The corrugated edge 34 provides a series of V-shaped projections 36 which constitute the V-shaped fingers 18 of the finished product. The cutting or stamping operation is simplified by merely directing the work tool in a path of movement at right angles to the plane of the strip of material. Thus, all edges are oriented normal to the plane of the material strip.

Each strip 30 is bent through 360.degree. to bring end portions 38 together, which end portions are then bonded together as by a suitable rubber cement or other adhesive to form a seam 40 in the finished product shown in FIGS. 1-4. Although wall 14 is originally flat, the stresses resulting in bringing end portions 38 together causes wall 14 to be slightly bowed as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. It should be appreciated that the right angularly related edges 32 and 34 form edges 16 and 22 which are inclined relative to a horizontal plane cut transversely through body 10. Thus, the complex, generally frusto-conical finished shape of the tee of this invention with its inclined edges 16 and 22 is easily produced by originally forming such edges perpendicular to the plane of wall section 30.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the objects of the present invention have been fully accomplished. As a result of this invention, an improved golf tee is provided which is easily manufactured, inexpensive, durable, and of lightweight construction. The present tee rests on a ground surface and provides a dished seating surface for a golf ball. By the provision of ground engaging projections having recesses therebetween, ground surface irregularities are accommodated. Also, the relatively large area of the tee body which may be easily colored by making it of a colored plastic material renders it easily observable to facilitate retrieval. The generally frusto-conical shape of body 10, the radially oriented ground engaging projections and the basically point contact thereof with the ground provides a very stable construction in a tee which is easily positioned for play.

One form of this invention having been described and illustrated, it is to be understood that this has been done by way of illustration only.

Claims

We claim:

1. A golf tee adapted to rest on the surface of the ground comprising a body having a wall defining a central opening therein, said wall having an upper edge inclined downwardly and inwardly toward said central opening forming an inwardly dished golf ball supporting seat, said body being of a wall thickness such that the seating surface formed by said upper edge provides a relatively large ball contact area, said wall having a lower portion including a plurality of downwardly extending ground engaging projections defining a plurality of recesses therebetween for accommodating upwardly extending ground surface irregularities, said body being formed of a resiliently yieldable synthetic foam material, and said wall being of a generally conical shape tapering upwardly toward said upper edge, wherein said projections are generally V-shaped fingers terminating in generally radially extending knife edges inclined upwardly and outwardly and of a length substantially equal to the thickness of said wall, wherein said inner ends engage said ground surface and said lower edges are adapted to be pressed against said ground surface progressively from said inner ends toward said outer ends upon axial compression of said body, wherein said upper and lower edges extend in a direction normal to the outer surface of said wall, and wherein said wall is of circular horizontal section and said projections are generally radially arranged thereabout.